


Ghosts of the past

by Wordywizard



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24652330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordywizard/pseuds/Wordywizard
Summary: The Doctor tries to drink away the past which looms over him but fails and must be comforted by the master.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Ghosts of the past

The Doctor waltzed into the room holding a bottle of whiskey. His tie hung loosely around his neck and he had unbuttoned his shirt almost completely. His jacket had been abandoned at some point in his trek to the library. In the library, the master was calmly reading but looked up curiously as The Doctor entered the room.

"I found it. You and the old girl weren't going to hide this from me" He hooted as he gestured to his bottle of alcohol.

"Found what?" The Master said feigning ignorance. He was resisting the urge to eye up the Doctor and only slightly failing.

"Madame Whiskey" The Doctor jabbered. 

"Really? You know that's not actually whiskey. I replaced it with something that can be extracted easily." The Master said smoothly. The Doctor had taken to trying to deliberately annoy him in an attempt to drive him away. It was a foolish plan of course since he was trapped on the TARDIS but the Doctor wasn't one to think things through.

"Don't you dare!" The Doctor said accusatorily. 

"But I do, darling," The Master said as he pressed a button he had right beside him. This activated the automatic filtration and within moments the Doctor was rendered sober.

"You're a monster" The Doctor whined. He flopped himself on the couch directly across from the master. 

"I never denied it, that was all you" The Master teased. He did eye the Doctor cautiously.

"Do you ever think of the blood on our hands. Even if they were monsters to kill a monster is to in itself become a monster" the Doctor pondered cautiously.

"Of course Doctor thanks to you I've nothing but time," he responded as he looked down at the book in his lap.

"Does it hurt? Burn in your chest like a thousand dying suns. Sometimes I think that those clawing fiery suns should have burned away my feckless being," The Doctor said looking at his hands disparagingly. He shook slightly as the past came to roost among the present.

"No and no. Even if I may be biased you do complete your work and help many people," The Master murmured through gritted teeth as his eyes darted up to meet the Doctor's form. To his dismay, he could see the Doctor spiraling.

"Umh, how can… can I continue after…" He muttered as a tear began to form.

"It doesn't matter to those you help that you have a complicated past they only know you not… that," The Master said as he placed his book down beside him and moved to The Doctor's side.

"People died. I killed. I...I" The Doctor said hobblingly as if unsteady in his words.

"You've killed people before the war, Theta," The Master said as he rubbed circles on The Doctor's back. Seeing him like this made him burn inside if he could even do that anymore. It made him want to burn down those who hurt him but in this form, he knew he couldn't.

"I know but-" 

"It's in the past, Dear," The Master said. It didn't appear that The Doctor noticed his old academy nickname and that worried The Master greatly. "Just stay here, in the present, love"

"You know I'm trying… just…can I stay here?" He sputtered as he leaned into his android companion's touch. He drew himself closer to The Master. 

"Here?" The Master inquired as he guided The Doctor into his arms. His robotic arms held the Doctor's torso close to The Master's chest.

"Here." He said slightly calmer. He was using the pressure of the Master to ground himself in the moment at hand and not the past which hung heavily in his mind.

The Master almost without thinking about it began to softly sing what The Doctor used to sing to him when he woke up from drum induced nightmares. He only half-remembered the words but the tune and the rhythm were deeply ingrained into his mind. 

After the incident was resolved they did not speak of it, not any of it but the Doctor no longer found reasons to avoid his eternal companion.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the pun was intentional and no I'm not sorry. (LOOOOOMMMSS)
> 
> IDK I wrote this in like 30 minutes.


End file.
